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Victim's name used to help educate others of domestic violence

By Randi Rousseau

Published On: Apr 28 2014 10:00:00 PM CDT

NEW ORLEANS -

The name Ben Freeman made national headlines in December 2013, after he went on a violent rampage killing three people, and injuring three others in Lafourche and Terrebonne parishes before killing himself.

However, the family of Freeman's first victim, his wife, Denise, is using her name and story to educate and help victims of domestic violence through their charitable group, Denise's Wish.

"We were all telling Denise at the time to get out of the situation, her friends were telling her the same thing. But she was so obsessed with trying to fix him. It cost her her life, unfortunately, and caused our family a lot of pain," said Jessica McAllister, Denise's sister-in-law.

McAllister started the group after Denise was killed, devoted to helping victims get out of an abusive situation before it escalates.

She says her sister-in-law had only been married to Ben Freeman for six months, but weeks prior to his killing spree, Denise alerted her family to the first signs of abuse.

"In that situation, it happened very rapidly. This wasn't an abuse over a period of time," McAllister said. "She was attempting to get help and he agreed to get help, and it just got out of hand."

Investigators say Denise was strangled by Ben Freeman and she drowned in the bathtub of their home in Houma.

McAllister says she wants to see more done legally to help victims so they can avoid a fate like Denise.

Allyson Tuttle, with Project S.A.V.E., provides free legal help to victims of domestic violence and says despite tragedies like this, victims should be able to depend on the legal system for protection.

"A victim of domestic violence can file a petition for protection from abuse and get a temporary restraining order or protective order against their abuser," said Tuttle.She also says there are red flags to look for that show the violence could escalate, like acts of extreme jealousy, stalking, or if someone constantly keeps tabs on someone's actions.

"Some of the more serious signs are threats of suicide, access to a gun, strangulation," Tuttle said. "That's a very common way the abuser gets control of their victim."

McAllister says she would eventually like to see Denise's Wish expand to an educational center for women and men, and would like to offer self-defense classes.

For now, her family says if they can save one person, it would be the way Denise would want to be remembered.

"If there's anything we can do to help young people realize that they're too beautiful and their life is too special to allow someone to hurt them, in any type of way, physically or verbally, that's what we want to do," said McAllister.

For more information on Denise's Wish: https://www.facebook.com/deniseswish